Freight car wall straightener



June 7, 1960 F. B. MILLER FREIGHT CAR WALL STRAIGHTENER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Oct. 12. 1956 I m INVENTOR.

I 54 Pref B, flzl zsr BY j June 7, 1960 Filed Oct. 12, 1956 F. B. MILLERFREIGHT CAR WALL STRAIGHTENER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. W762 ,5.Mai/27'.

FREIGHT CAR WALL STRAIGHTENER V Fred B. Miller, Ann Arbor, Mich.,assignor to Evans Products Company, Plymouth, Mich., a corporation ofDelaware The present invention relates to straightening machines andmethods and, though it is not so limited, it concerns a method andmachine for straightening components, such as posts and sidewalls ofrailroad boxcars. 7

One important application being made of the present invention is tostraighten walls or railroad boxcars that are equipped with DFbeltrails. Reference is made to Patent 2,725,826 and related casesassigned to the assignee hereof which describe and claim the aforesaidbelt rail construction sold under the trademark DF. When railroadboxcars are to be equipped with DF belt rails, the inner wooden walls ofthe boxcars are stripped off to bare the metal sidewalls and thevertical steel bracing members. structural steel bracing members whilethe remainder generally have hat section bracing members spaced alongthe walls. The BF belt rails are usually welded to the aforesaidvertical bracing members and extend horizontally along the boxcar wallsas illustrated in Fig. l of the aforesaid patent.

The straightening machine of the present invention is used to straightenany bowed or leaning condition existing in the walls, doorposts, or wallcomponents such as verticals and DF belt rails. This is ordinarily donewhen the DF equipment is installed and will, of course, straighten bothhorizontal and vertical components. However, should the boxcar wallssubsequently bow outwardly from continued humping, the straighteningmachine may be used to reset them.

The present invention can also be used to straighten leaning walls anddoorposts, as well as, those which bow inwardly or outwardly. Inaddition, although a principal use is to straighten boxcar walls afterthe aforesaid DF belt rails have been installed, the present inven: tionmay also be used to straighten boxcar walls prior to their installationand for subsequent maintenance purposes. Of course, as stated attheoutset, the meet the present invention is not limited to straighteningboxcar walls. I

- In preferred form, the present invention includes a box-like framemember having a walking beam pivoted from its top and extending thevertical height of the frame. A pair of hydraulic cylinders arepivotally fixed to the base of the frame and operably connected to thebottom of the walking beam. is moved into position against the wall orpart to be straightened and suitable connections are made between thewalking beam and'the wall or part. The hydraulic The majority of boxcarshave Z section,-

.Ice

It is a further object of this invention to provide wall straightenerwhich can straighten leaning walls as. well as curved walls.

Another object is to provide a device to straighten vertically disposedparts.

An additional object is to provide an improved straightening method.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will becomeapparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, tothe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Fig. l is a front elevation view of the present invention; Fig. 2 is aside elevation view of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a diagram of thehydraulic control system for operating the hydraulic cylinders of thepresent invention;

In operation the frame cylinders are then actuated to slowly pivot thewalking Fig. 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. l of the gaugebar used to indicate the distance through which the walking beam hasbeen pivoted;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a Z'bar pulley attachment; I

Fig. '6 is a perspective view of a door post pulley attachment; and 1Fig. 7 is a perspective view attachment.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the presentinvention is comprised of a lowerframe 10 composed of four lengths of angle iron which are coped andwelded together at their ends to form a rectangular frame. The lowerframe 10 is braced by two parallel, spaced-apart, reinforcing channels12 which are coped and welded to the centers of opposite sides of thelower frame 10. The upper face of the lower frame 10, excepting thespace between the reinforcing channels 12, is covered by a floor plate14 which is welded to the lower frame at its corners. An upper frame 16is constructed in the same manner as the lower frame 10 and is held inspaced relation to the lower frame 10 by four vertical corner posts 18which are welded to both frames. Two walking beam support angles 20 arecoped and welded to the opposite sides of the upper frame 16 in spacedrelation and parallel to the reinforcing channels 12 across the lowerframe. Two walking beam support gussets 22 are welded to the walkingbeam support angles 20 at their midpoints. A channel 24 is welded to theupper surfaces of the beam support angles 20 to further reinforce theupper frame assembly.

A walking beam 26, constructed from two channels welded together to forma box section, is pivotally: supportedfrom the gussets 22 by a pin 28.Pin 28 is retained by two washers 30 welded to its extremities. Hookupunits 32 are slidably mounted on the walking beam 26 and. are comprisedof two end plates 34, and two side plates 36 welded together to form abox-like structure. Angles 38 are welded to two corners of the hookupunits 32 tofurther reinforce the unit. A pull bar attachment plate 40and two supporting plates 42 are welded to one of the end plates 34 anda spring plunger 44 is fixed to the other end plate. Holes 45 areprovided in spaced relation along the walking beam 26 so that the hookupunits 32 may be positioned at any one of the holes by means of thespring plunger 44. Two hydraulic cylinders 46 are pivotally, mountedwithin the channels 12 by means of a bolt 48 which passes through fourbrackets 50 welded to a plate 52 which is in turn welded to the ends ofthe channels 12. The floating ends of the cylinders 46 are pivotallyconnected to the bottom of the walking beam 26 by a, b olt 54 whichpasses through the four brackets 56 v welded to the bottom of thewalking beam 26.. Of course, the hookup units 32 would he slipped ontothe walking beam 26 before its installation in the frame,

of a scissors-type Z puller Patented .Iu ne 7, 1960 A gauge bar 58 ismounted parallel to the plane of movement of'the walking beam 26' bymeans of angles 60 welded to one of the channels 12. The gauge bar 58 isso installed that the number 1 thereon coincides. with forward edge 27of the walking beam 26"when the walking beam is in its'fully retractedposition: This is most clearly illustrated in Fig.4.

Two pull bars 62 are constructed fronrheavy round bar stock andincorporate a 90 bend at each end. At their fixed endthey have aretainer washer 64secured by welding while at their free end they merelyhave a welded retainer bead 66. To assemble the pull bars 62i'to thehookup units32, the free ends of the pull bars are inserted throughholes provided in the' pull bar at-' tachmentplates 40 until theretainer'washers 64 make contact with the attachment plates. A varietyof suitable pulling attachments'may be attached to the freeends of'thepull bars 62 depending upon the construction of the wall tobestraightened.

To provide the wall straightener with ease of'rnove ment andmaneuverability, it is mounted on a set of wheels consisting of two rearwheel assemblies 74 welded to the rear corners ofthelower frame and afront swivel assembly-76-welded to the lower frame 10 at the center ofits front side and guided by means of a handle bar 78. In addition, ateach of thefront corners of the lower frame 10, out-rigger wheelassemblies 80' are weldedthereto in the-same manner as the rear wheels74, however, the out-rigger wheels 80 are so mounted that they are /2"above the floor when the machine is inalevelposition. Their function isto prevent the machine from'overturning if it should tip or lean'in anymanner.

Electric lights82 are-fixedto the upper frame 16 andare'connected to alight switch 84 by'cable 86. A cord hanger 88 is welded toone of thecorner posts 1810 store the-electriccable. Six bumpers 90 are welded totheworking face of the-machine (though theycan be made adjustable-inheight and to contact the verticals); three on the upper frame 16 andthree on the lower frame 101 Each set of three bumpers are distributedso that one is welded to each vertical corner post 18 with the thirdlocated on the frame intermediate the vertical corner posts.

An electric motor-driven hydraulic pumping unit 92 is bolted tothefioorplate 14 at the left front corner of the machine when viewed asin Fig. 1. This places the valve operating lever 94, which controls theoperation ofthe hydrauliccylinders 46, within-easy-reachof theoperatorwhose stationis at the right front corner of the machine. 7

Fig. 5 depicts a Z puller attachment which is comprised of a primaryplate 100 having an elongated hole 101' and a-notched cutout 102'therein. Reinforcing plates 103 are welded thereto and havecorresponding cutouts. Pressure pad 104 is welded toone-leg of thenotched cutouts. In operation the elongated hole 101 is slipped over thefre'eend'of-'one of the puller bars'62 and the-pressure pad 104 isslipped behind the-protruding'fiange of aZfsection structural member ofthe wall so that it may be pulled.

Fig. 6depicts adoor post puller which is comprised of two- 0shapedplatesllt), two spacer plates-112and a pullerplate 114having anelongated slot l16all ofwhich are assembledby welding. When--straightening door posts of a boxcar, the door post puller is used; Itis fitted'over the free end of one ofthe puller bars 62 in a similarmanne'r as the' Z puller'attachment of Fig. Send the open face of the Cshaped plates lli) is slippedover the door post so thatthe postslidesinto the enclosure formed by the legs llfi of thec' shaped plates 110.

Fig; 7 depicts a-'scissors-type Z-puller attachment 120 comprised" of''a primary plate 121 which is' notched to receive a pressure pad12.2,drilled to receive-a bolt 123; andcontains a" slot-124,-and*notched reinforcing plates 125 welded to both sides. A secondary plate126 having a slot'127 corresponding to the'slot 124 is pivotally of thesecondary plate 126 'serves to hold the pressure pad 122:securely inposition during thepulling action.

in operation the wall straightening machine is rolled into a defectiveboxcar from a flat bed truck, dock or any convenient means and ispositioned so that the bumpers abut against the defective wall. In'the-case of an outwardly bowed.wall,iit will be noted that the bumpers90 will contact the Wall at its top and bottom which are reasonablyvertical, thus giving the machine vertical alignment with pressurepoints at both top and bottom. Depending upon the construction of thewall to be straightened; a suitable puller attachment is selected. As-'suming, for example, that the DP belt rails described and claimed in theaforesaid Patent 2,725,826 and related cases have been installed, thesingle puller attachment 68 and the double puller attachment 70illustrated in Fig. 1 would be selected; These puller attachments arecomprised'of heads 71 which are welded to suitable plates 65 havingslots'therein so that they can be slipped onto the-free end'of thepuller bar 62 and over the beads 66. Since puller attachment 70 has twoheads 71, it also has plates 67 and 69 which are welded together tosupport two' heads 71 welded to either end of the plate 69. The heads 71are the same as the forgings-72 of Fig. 7 of the aforesaid Patent2,725,826 with the left portioncut off at a; point just-to the right ofthe section line 38.

When the puller attachments 68"and 70 have been hooked onto the DF beltrails and slipped over the free ends of'puller'bars 62, the wallstraightener is in position. for operation. To begin operation, thevalvelever 94 is manually'operated to actuate the hydraulic cylinders 46to'pivot the walking beam 26 in a direction away from the wall. Thisis'best depicted in Fig. 1. As the beam pivots,the wall is pulled withit since the bumpers 90 bear against the upper and lower portions of thewall to prevent movement of'the frame. The amount of wall movementnecessary to correct the bowed condition. is normally slightly more thanis necessary to draw the wall to a straight position and can be measuredby the position of the front surface 27 of the walking beam 26 relativetothe graduations on the gauge bar 58. Experience has proved that thedistance a wall of a particular construc-. tion must be pulled beyondits straight position to correct its curvature will generally remainconstant for. all walls of the same construction. Consequently, oncethis distance is established'by a trial and error determination, theindication of the gauge bar 58 can be recorded; for subsequentoperations onsimilarly constructed walls.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the lower pullbar 62 islonger thanthe upper pull bar 6'2. Consequently, when connecting thepull. bars to the wall, the hookup units 32will have to be adjusted-tothe verti-; cal position ontheiwalking beam 26 which will permit theirrelatedpull bar and pullerattachment to reach the bowed wall.

When an outwardly bowed boxcar wallis; to. be straightened before the DPbelt rails are installed, the-wooden inner walls would againv bestripped. off to bare the metalwalls and vertical bracing members. Ifthevertical bracing members are'the aforesaid 2 section structuralsteelmembers, either'the Z puller attachment of Fig. 5 orthe scissorspuller attachment of Fig.7 would'be-used. Both ofthese-attachments areidentical, with the exception that the-scissors puller has the secondaryplate 126 pivotally connected to the primary plate-121rbythe bolt 123,therefore, thedescription of the employment of thescissors puller 120will sufiice for both; 'To attach the scissors puller 120, the secondaryplate 126 is pivoted out of the way and the pressure pad 122 is slippedbehind the protruding flange of one of the vertical 2 shaped bracingmembers in the boxcar wall. The plate 126 is then pivoted back into theposition shown in Fig. 7 so that the slot 127 coincides with the slot124 and the free end of one of the puller bars 62 is slipped through theslots. A second scissors puller 120 would similarly be attached to theother pull bar 62 if the situation so requires.

This completes the attachment of the walking beam 26 to the wall and thestraightening machine is again in position for operation. The operatingprocedure is the same as previously described. The presence of the leg128 adjacent the notched opening in the scissors puller attachment 120holds the puller attachments in position so that they will not slip offthe protruding flange of the 2 section bracing member when thestraightening machine pulls the wall inwardly. If one of the scissorpullers'should begin to slip laterally on the protruding Z flange, theleg 128 will make contact to prevent further slippage. Since the freeend of the puller bar 62 passes through both slots 124 and 127, the leg128 cannot pivot on bolt 123. Therefore, the amount of slippage that canoccur before the leg 128 makes contact depends on the space between theleg 128 and the pressure pad 122.

. This space would, of course, be just large enough to accept thethickness of the web of the 2 section bracing member and still permitthe slots 124 and 127 to coincide.

If the outwardly bowed wall to be straightened has the hat sectionvertical bracing members rather than the 2 section members, three shortpieces of BF belt rails would be welded or fixed to an appropriate hatsection member and the puller attachment 68 and 70 of Fig. 1 would be'used. The operating procedure would, of course, be the same.

A second condition which frequently plagues boxcar walls is that theyoften bow inwardly. To straighten an inwardly bowed wall, thestraightening machine is moved into position with its working face, andbumpers 90, against the opposite wall. A 6" x 6" wooden beam, or similarobject, is placed between the wall to be straightened and the walkingbeam '26 and force is applied by means of the hydraulic cylinders 46.This causes the walking beam to pivot toward the wall being straightenedand places the 6" x 6" Wooden beam in compression. The machine cannotmove away from the wall being straightened because, as statedpreviously, the bumpers 90 on the working face of the frame are incontact with the opposite wall at the top and bottom thereof. Theopposite wall would not be outwardly bowed by the reaction force of theframe because this force is applied at the top and bottom of the wall.

A third condition which plagues boxcar walls is that they sometimesslant or lean inwardly from the vertical at their upper extremities. Tostraighten such a wall, the upper bumpers 90 on the working face of thewall straightener are positioned against the top of the leaning wall. A6" x 6" section of wooden beam, or similar object, is placed between thewalking beam and the base of the opposite wall of the boxcar to restrainmovement of the walking beam 26 in this direction. Force is then appliedto the walking beam by means of the hydraulic cylinders 46 which causesthe upper bumpers 90 to exert a force against the upper portion of theleaning wall. Force is thus exerted by the upper bumpers 90 against theupper portion of the leaning wall until the wall is moved sufficientlyto remain vertical when the force is removed. If need be, the lowerbumpers of the frame may be restrained by blocks fixed to the floor ofthe boxcar.

Bowed or leaning boxcar door posts may also be corrected by employing anoperating procedure similar to those already described depending uponthe fault to 'be corrected. The only difference being that when anoutwardly bowed post is to be pulled straight, the door post pullerattachment of Fig. 6 would be used. It is attached to the puller bars62in the same manner as the other puller attachments. The open face ofthe C shaped plates is then slipped latenally over the door post andpulled inwardly so that the leg 118 hooks the door post to prevent thepuller attachment from slipping off when the door post is pulledstraight.

Referring to Fig. 3, the hydraulic system for operating the hydrauliccylinders 46 is comprised of a suitable hydraulic line 130, a fluidreservoir 132, a fluid filter 134, a pump 136 driven by an electricmotor 137, a three-position, 4-way valve 138 and a return line 140.Fluid under pressure flows from the pump 136 to the manually controlledthree-position, 4-way valve 138. By means of a control handle 139 thefluid may be directed to either of the ends of the hydraulic cylinders46 which act in unison. The control handle 139 automatically returns toits neutral position when released by the operator. This diverts fluidfrom the pump through outlet of the 4-way valve 138 and back to thereservoir 132 by means of the return line 140. However, the walking beamwillreta-in its position until the handle 139 is again actuated. Toreturn the walking beam to its original position, the handle 139 isactuated to reverse the pressure in the hydraulic cylinders 46.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for straightening a metal wall of a boxcar, havinglongitudinal flanged projections, comprising a mobile, structural steelframe adapted to be positioned against said wall, a walking beampivotally supported from the center of the top of said frame andextending the length of said frame, attaching means adjustably mountedon said walking beam, gripping means for connecting to said attachingmeans and adapted to grip said' flanged projections, two parallelchannels fixed to the bot tom of said frame in spaced relation to form aslot within which the lower end of said walking beam may swing towardand away from said wall, a hydraulic cylinder disposed within said slotpivotally connected to a plate fixed across one end of said channels andoperably connected to the lower end of said walking beam, and anelectric motor-driven hydraulic pumping unit fixed to said frame andconnected to operate said hydraulic cylinders to pivot said walkingbeam.

2. The subject matter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said gripping meanscomprises, a primary plate having an elongated slot at one end and anotched portion at the other end thereof, two notched reinforcing platesfixed to said other end of the primary plate, and a sec ondary platepivotally connected to said primary plate intermediate the ends thereofand having an elongated slot at one end corresponding to the slot insaid primary plate and an oflset leg on the other end thereof whichoverlies the open face of said notch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,787,095- Strausbaugh Dec. 30, 1930 1,879,979 Countryman -e- Sept. 27,1932 2,334,080 Freeman Nov. 9, 1943 2,597,103 Johnson et al. May 20,1952 2,605,658 Sanchez Aug. 5, 1952 2,696,240 Crowder Dec. 7, 19542,725,917 Kauppi Dec. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 392,347 Germany Mar. 20,1924 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.2,939 ,507 June 7, 1960 Fred B. Miller It is hereby certified that errorappears in the-printed specification of the above numbered patentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read ascorrected below.

Column 2, lines 20 and 22, for "pulley", each occurrence,

read puller column 6, lines 37 and 38, for "for connecting" readconnected Signed and sealed this 13th day of December 1960:

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents

